Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL BAQARAH [81]

81. Yes! Whosoever earns evil and his sin has surrounded him, they are dwellers of the Fire (i.e. Hell); they will dwell therein forever. 82. And those who believe and do righteous good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise, they will dwell therein forever.   Allah says, the matter is not as you have wished and hoped it to be. Rather, whoever does an evil deed and abides purposefully in his error, coming on the Day of Resurrection with no good deeds, only evil deeds, then he will be among the people of the Fire.

(And those who believe and do righteous good deeds) meaning, ”They believe in Allah and His Messenger and perform the good deeds that conform with the Islamic Law. They shall be among the people of Paradise.'' Allah said in a similar statement,

(It will not be in accordance with your desires (Muslims), nor those of the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof, and he will not find any protector or helper besides Allah. And whoever does righteous good deeds, male or female, and is a (true) believer ï´¿in the Oneness of Allah (Muslim)ï´¾, such will enter Paradise and not the least injustice, even the size of a Naqira (speck on the back of a date stone), will be done to them) (4: 123-124). Also, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Wa'il, `Ata', and Al-Hasan said that,

(And his sin has surrounded him) means, ”His Shirk (polytheism) has surrounded him.'' Also, Al-A`mash reported from Abu Razin that Ar-Rabi` bin Khuthaym said,

(And his sin has surrounded him), ”Whoever dies before repenting from his wrongs.'' As-Suddi and Abu Razin said similarly. Abu Al-`Aliyah, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas said that,

(And his sin has surrounded him) refers to major sins. All of these statements carry similar meanings, and Allah knows best.   Here we should mention the Hadith that Imam Ahmad recorded, in which `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Beware of the belittled sins, because they gather on a person until they destroy him.) He then said that the Messenger of Allah gave them an example,

(This is the example of people who set up camp on a flat land, and then their servants came. One of them collected some wood and another man collected some wood until they collected a great deal. They then started a fire and cooked what they put on it.) Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that Ibn `Abbas said that,

(And those who believe and do righteous good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise, they will dwell therein forever) ”Whoever believes in what you (Jews) did not believe in and implements what you refrained from implementing of Muhammad's religion, shall acquire Paradise for eternity. Allah stated that the recompense for good or evil works shall remain with its people for eternity. ''